Guests

[liv]

So lethargic_man came here for a long-anticipated visit last week. Not everything went entirely according to plan, but it was delightful all the same. I didn't really manage to join lethargic_man for the tourism, but the hanging out in between, in the company of ploni_bat_ploni, was great.

There was a lot of very good food involved, including treating ourselves at Lao Wai, the vegetarian and kosher Chinese place, and a less sumptuous but still tasty lunch at the little veggie cafe on Hornsgatan. The most exciting food was what we cooked ourselves for shabbat though. For various reasons we ended up spending the weekend chez moi, which meant not going to synagogue as the other two don't travel on shabbat. Friday afternoon was a bit of a panic to get everything ready, but ploni_bat_ploni is the most amazing cook! She did something entirely mindblowing to some humble salmon, not to mention putting together two very tasty and multi-part meals in the space of about an hour.

Shabbat itself was really lovely. I really needed to spend some relaxed time with friends like that. And the three of us have very compatible ideas about liturgy so we had great fun with the services and blessings, even if praying with less than ten people is supposed to be second rate. Another highlight was a walk to the Fairy Lake I believe my suburb is named for. It was twilight, and decidedly autumn, and we were singing the Saturday afternoon songs, Heart's beloved and Psalm 23, a little quietly so as not to embarrass ourselves too much, and it was just a lovely moment.

In other news, the syngagogue have voted to become fully egalitarian. I'm greatly relieved; this was by no means a foregone conclusion, and it'll make life here so much more pleasant.

Comments

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

The most exciting food was what we cooked ourselves for shabbat though.

Yay; I knew there was stuff I'd forgotten to put in my trip report. Can I have your recipes, please? Those were yum! (Apart from the salmon one^*, which was a little too strong for me.)

* No offence, ploni_bat_ploni; de gustibus non est disputandum. I'd not even say only if livredor was going to ask you for recipes to pass on to me, there's no point going to the effort of transcribing one I'm not going to use.

In other news, the syngagogue have voted to become fully egalitarian. I'm greatly relieved; this was by no means a foregone conclusion, and it'll make life here so much more pleasant.

Yay; that ought to really make ploni_bat_ploni's week. :o)

[ploni-bat-ploni.livejournal.com]

You give me too much credit for the cooking, Livredor. Let's not forget your wonderful chickpea curry and yummie salsa to go with the leftover potato kugel on Motzei Shabbat. Plus tea. Tea. Tea!!

It was very lovely. I was actually reminiscing on that beautiful Fairy Lake experience just a few moments ago. You and Lethargic_Man were very tolerant putting up with me, even though you two are the far closer friends of our triad. So thank you. And I do hope I didn't impose myself too much.

The vote is for EGALITARIANISM! I am psyched! I was scared to come to Morning Minyan this morning because I feared the vote would be a big, resounding NO. But I am very happy. This makes my work with the community much easier!

Thanks again for everything!

[rysmiel.livejournal.com]

This all sounds really remarkably pleasant and it is very nice indeed to read you posting about it.

*hugs*

Vegan chickpea curry

[liv]

The recipe I mainly adapted from our mutual acquaintance in Edinburgh, but here you go:

Fry some onions with lots of garlic, ginger, coconut powder, and garam massala, and chopped fresh chilli to taste. (Garam massala is a spice mix, I'm not sure 'zactly what's in it but you can get it from Indian shops.) When the onions are cooked, or when you're bored or whatever, drain a tin of chick peas and add the peas to the spices. Fry everything together for a little while. Add a tin of chopped tomatoes and some salt. Add some water too if you're planning to cook it for a long time. Bring the liquid back to the boil. Add the juice of a whole lemon. Cover and simmer for a minimum of 20 minutes, or preferably for ages and ages if you want it to be extra delicious. Serve it with rice; I like basmati, but then I like basmati.

The salsa is pretty basic; I just threw some more chopped tomatoes into a pan with some garlic and chopped fresh chilli and chopped onion and cooked it very fast and uncovered until it had reduced to the consistency of salsa. Then I added a squeeze of lemon juice and some fresh coriander, because I happened to have those lying around.

[darcydodo]

But I want to know what the salmon recipe was. :)

[hatam-soferet.livejournal.com]

lots of w00tage :)

Re: Vegan chickpea curry

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

The salsa is pretty basic;

Yes, but I haven't made salsa before, and thought of salsa as a cold dip, not something nice and hot to go on potato kugel!

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah; could I have the potato kugel too, please? :o)

[ploni-bat-ploni.livejournal.com]

Definately. Today was a good day. Now I am off to watch dvd's curled up in bed after I am done eating my yummie cream-cheese, avocado, mushroom pasta.

It's cold, dark and gloomy outside with lots of rain but I am inside, so who cares?

:-)

Oh, and there was soup too

[liv]

It's easy soup. It goes like this: Chop and fry an onion with 3 or 4 cloves and some garlic. Peel, wash and chop as many carrots as you can be bothered with. A potato and a single parsnip are optional extras; both thicken the soup slightly and the parsnip adds to the flavour. Fry the vegetables with the onions for a while. Then fill up the pan with stock (the Osem pareve chicken soup works very well, but otherwise vegetable stock is fine). Bring to the boil, add salt, cover and simmer until the vegetables are soft.

If you are clumsy and nervous like me, allow the soup to cool, or if you are dextrous like ploni_bat_ploni skip this step. Blend the soup with any kind of powered blades. If you have no access to a blender or similar, cook the soup until everything falls apart and then mash it with a fork or something; it will be slightly lumpier and somewhat harder work, but it will still be fine.

Continue cooking the blended soup for a while on the lowest heat possible. Overnight is fine, which is why I made it for shabbat. Less than several hours will probably be ok but the flavour ends up slightly blander. When you are about to eat it, add the juice of a whole, large orange. If you're feeling ambitious, add the zest as well. Don't on any account serve it to hatam_soferet; she has an irrational prejudice against orange coloured foods.

If you need to thin it out having stored it, you can add milk. It will curdle a bit, because that's what happens when you mix milk with orange juice. I don't think it matters, but if you or your guests are horribly squeamish about curdled milk, you can add water instead. For fancy effect you can put a swirl of cream into the bowl and not bother to mix it completely. But that probably wouldn't appeal to you with your views on cream.

Re: Vegan chickpea curry

[compilerbitch.livejournal.com]

In Mexican food, there are many kinds of salsa, some cooked, some not. You may have had some I made at one of the Southgate parties -- if so, this was incredibly simple. Start with cherry tomatoes (because they are so tasty). Chop the tomatoes, add some finely chopped onion, some chopped pickled jalapeno chillis, and a generous quantity of chopped fresh coriander (aka cilantro this side of the pond). Stir well and eat. No cooking needed. It tastes incredibly fresh, and I've found that at parties arbitrarily large quantities disappear more or less instantaneously. :-)

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

the syngagogue have voted to become fully egalitarian

yay! that's really wonderful.